The Features have deflected enough false starts and dead-ends to kill most groups. Absorbed in full, it’s quite the litany of misfortune: at least two unreleased full-length albums to close out the ’90s; a pair of fruitless label dalliances; the departure of three band members. It’s oddly fitting, then, that the Features’ new LP is a self-titled affair. And apparently they’re also late-bloomers, given the measurable bump in song quality and musicianship that propels The Features (Serpents & Snakes/BMG). With its four members now well into their 30s, the band sounds like it’s just now coming into its own. Singer/guitarist Matthew Pelham, keyboardist Mark Bond, bassist Roger Dabbs and drummer Rollum Haas will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Features feature.
Bond: In the last few years, my wife and I have participated in two different CSAs. One was a more standard Farmers’ Market-type CSA, in which we receive a basket of various fruits and vegetables weekly. The other is from a dairy farmer who sells raw dairy products along with fermented foods and beverages such as kefir water. These CSAs are growing increasingly popular as people become more and more aware of what is really happening behind the scenes with the growth and processing of our food supply at large. After doing a lot of reading and research about this situation, we decided to try one for ourselves. The first one was great. Aside from the food being organic and completely clean from any chemicals, we got to know and invest in a family of farmers that, at one point, decided to sell everything they owned and start their own farm. They built their house on land they bought with their own hands from the ground up. The second was also great. Some believe that raw milk as opposed to pasteurized milk is extremely more beneficial health wise. I am one of those people. To my knowledge, I’m not lactose intolerant, but there are a lot of people who are that noticed a great improvement in their symptoms once they switched to raw. I think CSAs are a great resource in our communities that supports families, farms and communities from the ground up. It puts the control of knowing where your food comes from back in the consumers’ hands.
My family will continue to buy from a CSA as long as there are farmers selling their goods in our area.
Video after the jump.
One reply on “From The Desk Of The Features: Farm Fresh CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture)”
there’s no such thing as “humane” milk production. mother cows still have their babies torn from them, the milk their bodies produced for their calves is still stolen from them, and their lives are still violently ended as soon as their milk production declines.
the very notion of drinking the milk of another species is, frankly, disgusting. and creepy.